Daily Life

01/21/2014

Click. This is one of those stories you don't mean to read because you're searching for something else, but you see the headline, and then suddenly you're at the end and smiling.

Journalist Alex Duval Smith is in Bamako, the capital of Mali, and has been writing on the conflict both in Mali and neighbouring countries, including the wartorn and often overlooked Central African Republic, where as he wrote in a Guardian piece last week about the "seeds of genocide" that may be sown.

And, he has also found time to write a piece for the BBC about the lost-and-found dog, Kerouac. "The runaway mutt, Kerouac, is not even mine. He came into my life - and ran out of it - two months ago. He and his French owner, Stephane, had parked their camper in my street for a week," he writes. "Despite the risk of kidnapping by al-Qaeda, there is still a breed of traveller that defies warnings by various governments to churn through this region in old lorries."

The dog ran off with a pack of hounds. Stephane left Mali in tears. But the cat dog came back. (Nine lives? Aren't there any good dog sayings?) Alex, became the new owner of the "bumptious slobber pot."

01/17/2014

That’s the motto of millions of counterfeiters worldwide, from the mom and pop operations that turn out synthetic booze and drugs in villages to the factories producing phony airplane parts and deadly contaminated baby formula.

The UN has put its collective foot down. This week it launched a campaign to raise awareness about the links between organized crime and counterfeit goods, which it says are worth $250 billion a year.

Canada estimates its black market for pirated and counterfeited goods at more than $30 billion a year – which doesn’t include movies or software.

The Vienna Based UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) will kick off the campaign with a major media effort, splashed across the famous NASDAQ screen in Manhattan’s Times Square and several global TV stations.

It aims to convince bargain-hungry shoppers to “look beyond counterfeit goods and to understand the serious repercussions of this illicit trade,” condemning counterfeiting as a “serious risk to health and safety.”

Top of the danger list are fraudulent foods and medicines, which have poisoned and killed untold numbers of duped people. In one of the worst scandals, six Chinese children died from contaminated baby formula and 300,000 others took ill. But forged machine, auto and airplane parts cause fatal accidents and are responsible for thousands of deaths and injuries.

Even if the goods aren’t deadly the rings that produce and distribute them may be, exploiting workers, trafficking migrants and damaging the environment with impunity.

But for those trying to stamp out counterfeiting the sheer scope of fake goods is daunting -- and mind-boggling in an age when cut-price sales competition is fierce, the public appetite for consumer goods boundless and anything including guns can be duplicated by 3-D printers.

Some fakes rob governments and employers as well as individuals. In Toronto, fake TTC Metropasses cost the cash-strapped transit organization close to $2 million a year. In China, where the underground economy is often right on the surface, peddlers openly flog fake receipts that are used to evade taxes and defraud companies, says the New York Times.

Consumers at every level must be wary. Phony hockey merchandise, including NHL jerseys, hats and T-shirts have been seized in the U.S. But high-end designer goods are especially susceptible to fraud, and even fine wines and vintage cars have been counterfeited and sold for multi-figure sums.

In an age of virtual reality, some fakes have acquired their own cachet. Last summer Fordham University put on an exhibition of confiscated art forgeries from the FBI to enthusiastic audience reaction. The show was called Caveat Emptor – or buyer beware.

Olivia Wardhas covered the former Soviet Union, Middle East and South Asia, winning national and international awards.

Not so much, says a new survey, Good Enough to Eat, released Wednesday by Oxfam, compiled from data gathered by international organizations.

It’s a global food index that weighs the most important factors of dietary health, including affordability, quantity, diversity and nutritiousness of food, as well as a country’s rate of obesity and diabetes. And it has turned up some surprising results.

The problem is more than a plethora of poutine. “Even in a wealthy country like Canada there’s a big gap between what people need and what they get,” says Oxfam Canada’s Robert Fox, pointing out that aboriginal communities suffer most, and in Nunavut more than half of children live in food insecurity. Fox calls for a “national food policy” in Canada, and an overseas aid policy that is focused on women food producers.

But food problems are often complex, the report points out.

While the Dutch have the highest overall rating – and a well-known fondness for riding bicycles – they score lower on the obesity measure, with 19 per cent of people surveyed classed as fat. (Too many Dutch treats?)

Even worse is Australia, whose svelte beach bunny image is blown away by an obesity rate of 27 per cent. And 9 per cent of Australians also have diabetes.

At the very bottom of the unhealthy eating scale, strangely, are wealthy Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which rate an “F” for obesity and diabetes.

Icelanders, not noted for grand cuisine, rate at the top of the food quality and diet diversity scale, in spite of their limited farm land and relatively high food prices.

But sadly, it’s all too easy to predict those at the bottom end of the index.

Impoverished Chad – home to hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees – is lowest overall, with food that’s too little and too dear. It also has scant nutritional value, and is kept in unsanitary conditions. One child in three is underweight.

Meanwhile Angola, also near the bottom of the scale, suffers the highest level of food price volatility, except for inflation-battered Zimbabwe. In Angola, “60 per cent of people’s diet is made up of simple carbohydrates and almost half the population do not have access to clean water” to prepare food safely.

In Burundi, a whopping 67 per cent of people are undernourished, and 35 per cent of children are underweight. A number of other African countries have scores that are little better.

One surprise: the worst score for underweight children is in “Asian tiger” India – some 44 per cent of kids have lower than normal weight, making them vulnerable to stunting and learning disabilities.

“Inequality, weak distribution, failed markets and poor governance mean that people in many countries go to bed hungry, especially women,” says Oxfam, calling for “urgent reform of the way food is produced and distributed around the world to put an end to this scandal.”

Olivia Wardhas covered countries from the former Soviet Union, Middle East and South Asia, winning national and international awards.

11/11/2013

In Britain, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. At least on the telly.

No snow, I'm told; no festive carols (yet), no drunken revelers in the street (again, yet.) But last week saw the release of the much-anticipated - truly - John Lewis and Marks and Spencer holiday commercials. This is an event. It makes the news!

They're as much a part of the season as awkward office parties and tacky lights on Oxford Street. But they tend to be, well, kind of wonderful.

In particular, the ads for upscale department store John Lewis are guaranteed to make you weep, unless you're heartless and unkind don't like nice things happening to nice people (or bunnies, or bears.) Watch:

Last year's advert featured a snowman going on a hunt for the perfect gift for his missus. Let me tell you, the highway is no place for a brave, determined, yet fragile snowperson! See what I mean:

I find this year's ad for M&S less moving. Model-of-the-moment Rosie Huntington-Whitley falls down a sewer grate and seems to lose her clothes quite frequently. (Well, M&S is known for its underwear.) And then Helena Bonham-Carter shows up:

You can also vote on what Rosie's dog should be called, if you're so inclined.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. The upshot of all this? Someone on my list is definitely getting an alarm clock this year.

Jennifer Quinn is a foreign affairs and investigative reporter at the Star. As a journalist with the Associated Press, based in London, she wrote extensively about British politics. Follow her on Twitter @JQStar.

10/29/2013

The Queen and other members of the royal family do hundreds of engagements -﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ that's what their personal appearances are known as - every year. They visit hospitals and schools and open new community centres and do all kinds of worthy (boring?) things.

They don't always make the news, even in the U.K., or even register in my consciousness - and I am a pretty vigilant royal watcher. But I was quite touched by a visit the Queen and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, made Tuesday.

They went to Brixton in south London. In the minds of many, this neighbourhood is inexorably linked to the 1981 riots that occurred when tensions between residents and the police came to the boil and divisions of race and class spilled over.

And Brixton is still a pretty tough place. But in the middle of the concrete and apartment buildings is the Ebony Horse Club, which helps underpriviledged kids learn life skills, encourages them to stay in school and gives them experiences they might otherwise miss out on.

They learn to ride and look after horses, and find mentors and maybe a different path in life.

Camilla is the patron of the club and a very keen rider. But her mother-in-law is no slouch in the saddle and she, too, knows her way around a stableyard.

Perhaps that is part of the reason they both looked genuinely pleased to be there, with the kids and their mounts. Camilla had a massive bag of polo mints in her purse - the preferred snack of British horses; they're kind of like Life Savers - and doled them out as the riders grinned madly.

The Queen paused every so often to say hello and have a chat, and the kids stood very proudly, showing off their work. The horses were groomed to within an inch of their hooves, and the stable was neat as a pin.

There's a joke that the Queen thinks the entire world smells of fresh paint because everyone spruces up their digs before she arrives. But how nice to see people so proud, and so excited, to show off their hard work.

Consider this exchange, chronicled by the Daily Mail, between the Queen and 8-year-old Oulwakarede Asunloye.

"She asked me whether my picture was up on the wall (with the other success stories) and I told her that I had only had four lessons. She said: 'I think it will be one day.'"

Nice, huh?So there it is. Proof that even a cynical old hack like me can get sentimental.

(As an aside, I was super-amused to see the Daily Express describe the Queen's coat as "geranium." The palace press office is always willing to specify the colour of Her Majesty's outfits. I once called to check on a suit-hat combo and was told no, it was not actually pink - it was raspberry.)

Normal service now resumes. Perhaps I'll find a weather story to complain about.

Jennifer Quinn is a foreign affairs and investigative reporter at the Star. As a journalist with the Associated Press, based in London, she wrote extensively about British politics (and royal fashion). Follow her on Twitter @JQStar.

10/01/2013

Holding a sign that says “Poverty is not a crime," protesters outside Hungarian parliament on 30 September 2013. (Human Rights Watch.)

As if being homeless wasn't bad enough.

Hungary is a country whose government has been making news for unfortunate reasons recently. Many Roma from Hungary have fled to Canada, claiming they have been persecuted by both the government and its supporters.

HRW and other human rights activists have been worried by what they've seen happening in Hungary since the country's 2010 elections, when the far-right political party Jobbik won 17
per cent of the popular vote, stoking mistrust of
Roma and whipping up anger over alleged "Gypsy crime."

Now, Hungary seems to have its sights set on the homeless, another vulnerable group.Hungary has passed a new law that criminalizes homelessness. (Hungary has about 30,000 homeless.) Parliamentarians voted 245 to 45 for the new bill, Human Rights Watch reports.

"Municipalities across the country now have a green light to impose fines, community service, and even jail time (if convicted twice within six months) on the homeless," HRW researcher Lydia Gall writes. "And it’s straight to jail for those convicted of erecting makeshift shelters."

The new law follows a decree passed this summer by the city of Budapest that banned "dumpster-diving." That law introduces fines of up to 150,000 Hungarian forints ($655), or even jail sentences for repeated violations.

Rick Westhead is a foreign affairs writer at The Star. He was based in India as the Star’s South Asia bureau chief from 2008 until 2011 and reports on international aid and development. Follow him on Twitter @rwesthead

09/04/2013

A wanted poster for Taliban militants posted near the city of Mingora in 2009. (Rick Westhead/Toronto Star)

During the early days after Pakistan’s military forced the Taliban out of the Swat Valley in 2009, the local cinema reopened,
screening the Pashtun movie Target twice each day.

That was four years ago and progress since then has been achingly slow
for the residents of Swat, a collection of beautiful valleys and mountain vistas north of Islamabad.

The Taliban had held control of Swat for months before the
army finally forced their retreat and while the Taliban ruled the region,
locals became accustomed to hardline rule. The Taliban outlawed movies and
music and art as secular evils, said polio vaccinations were a Western
conspiracy, and preached that women did not belong in schools or public
markets.

The Arab-style burqa with a slit to see through was not
adequate for women; the Taliban insisted the Afghan "ghost-style"
opaque screen be used instead.

Now, in a development that highlights how life in Swat is
slowing returning to normal, Swat’s golf course has reopened for the first time
in more than two decades.

According to a report in the newspaper Dawn, Swat Deputy
Commissioner Imtiaz Hussain said the Kabal Golf Course was fit to play and that
its inaugural tournament would feature 200 golfers, including 27 senior
professionals and 54 professionals.

Hussain said that the club, also known as the Cedar Golf Club at Kabal, was built in 1964 and hosted
tournaments until 1992.

“Due to militancy and other problems in the area during
recent years, no tournament of national level has been held here for the last
21 years,” Hussain told Dawn. “But now, the golf club and all of its holes have
been restored with the help of army.

“We want to give a message to the people that Swat is
peaceful now and they can come here without any fear,” he said.

The Tribune newspaper reports Mohammad Ashfaq, a member of
the Pakistan Air Force, won the first 54-hole Swat Open. Ashfaq's winning score was not reported by local media.

Rick Westhead is a foreign affairs writer at The Star. He was based in India as the Star’s South Asia bureau chief from 2008 until 2011 and reports on international aid and development. Follow him on Twitter @rwesthead

08/29/2013

Another week, another awesome news release from Britain's ever-reliable Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The headline: "Brits caught out by unusual laws and customs." Among the unusual laws and customs which have caught Brits out, according to the FCO: bingo-playing, pigeon-feeding, monument-sitting.

"These are just some of the reasons why many people have found themselves faced with hefty fines or in some cases arrested or detained abroad," the FCO release warned.

"Every year Brits are caught out by local laws and customs which are commonplace in the U.K., some of which carry serious consequences. These could easily be avoided by researching travel destinations in advance and taking note of updates and warnings issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office."

It is very good advice. But it's also another wonderful missive from the crack team at the FCO, who, earlier this month, reminded Brits not to get too loaded when on holiday - and who also put out an annual roundup of utterly mad queries their consular staff is asked by clueless travelers.

(It's almost as if the FCO sensed I could use a midweek giggle and crafted this for my pleasure. Thank you, FCO!)

Alongside the amusing reminders not to feed pigeons in Venice (you'll get fined) or chew gum on public transportation in Singapore (also a fine) are Serious warnings: drugs are illegal in the Netherlands, despite what one might have heard, and taking pictures of military installations in Saudi Arabia is prohibited. Both could result in a hapless visitor enjoying the hospitality of a jail cell.

"Consular staff often find that travellers are unaware that local laws apply to them and many British nationals think of their British passport as a ‘get out of jail free’ card," said Charles Hay, the FCO's director of Consular Services. "While consular staff will always try to assist British nationals who find themselves in difficulty abroad, we can’t interfere in another country’s legal processes."

Jennifer Quinn is a foreign affairs and investigative reporter at the Star. As a journalist with the Associated Press, based in London, she wrote extensively about British politics. Follow her on Twitter @JQStar.

08/21/2013

Like its sun and sand, Jamaica’s ganja – the potent local variety of marijuana –
has always been a popular attraction for tourists.

Now a prominent medical researcher from the Caribbean island thinks the time is
right for what he calls “health tourism” and for his country to host an
international center for medical marijuana research.

He also echoed his idea in the local press,
telling the The Sunday Gleaner in Jamaica: "While ganja, in my view, is
not the all-embracing medication that some people have advocated, it has some definite
medicinal qualities.”

“I
think we’ve been terribly and systematically misled in this country for some
time and I was part of that misleading but you know I didn’t look deep enough,”
Gupta said on his own network. “I didn’t look at labs in other countries who
are doing incredible research, I didn’t listen to the chorus of patients who
said not only does marijuana work for me, it’s the only thing that works for
me!”

"Gupta has seen the light and although
his apology is late, it is welcomed," said Lowe, who is now preparing for the third edition of his book in time for a planned conference on marijuana in September in Jamaica.

"I have been supporting ganja for its
medicinal uses based on scientific activity," he said, adding that he hoped to re-open a
Cannabis Research Institute he had set up in the past.

While few tourists realize it, pot smoking
has been illegal in Jamaica since 1913, though it is sold openly around the
island.

08/16/2013

A British charity is advising girls who worry they're being taken abroad to marry against their will to hide a spoon in their underwear at the airport to trigger security and give them a chance to tell authorities of their fears.

Agence-France Presse reported that Karma Nirvana, which is based in the English city of Derby, had fielded thousands of calls from young people, and that the advice had helped some of their clients.

"When they go through security, it will highlight this object in a private area and, if 16 or over, they will be taken to a safe space where they have that one last opportunity to disclose they're being forced to marry," operations manager Natasha Rattu told the news agency.

"We've had people ring ... that it's helped them and got them out of a dangerous situation. It's an incredibly difficult thing to do with your family around you, but they won't be aware that you have done it. It's a safe way."

Britain has been at the forefront of the fight against forced marriage: A joint Home Office-Foreign Office unit was set up in 2005 and is dedicated to preventing the practice and supporting survivors. Last year, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that forcing a person to marry against their will would become a crime.

Summer is traditionally the most worrying time for those seeking to prevent forced marriages, according to the FCO: "The rise in forced marriage reports during the school holidays is shocking," said crime prevention minister Jeremy Browne. "This is a serious abuse of human rights."

The government said the unit received more than 400 reports between last June and August. According to AFP, about 1,500 cases overall were handled in 2012. The most common country linked to the investigations was Pakistan; other countries included Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan, Somalia, Turkey, and Iraq.

Jennifer Quinn is a foreign affairs and investigative reporter at the Star. As a journalist with the Associated Press, based in London, she wrote extensively about British politics. Follow her on Twitter @JQStar.

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